Baco 22A
Encyclopedia
Baco Blanc or Baco 22A is a French-American hybrid grape variety. It is a cross of Folle Blanche
and the Noah grape, created in the 1898 by the grape breeder François Baco. Folle Blanche is its Vitis vinifera
parent. Noah, its other parent, is itself a cross of Vitis labrusca
and Vitis riparia
.
Baco Blanc was developed to produce some of the same flavors as Folle Blanche but without the susceptibility to American grape disease and phylloxera
. In the 20th century it was widely planted in the Gascony
region for uses in brandy
production. Both Armagnac
and Cognac
(from the Charentes and Charente-Maritime
districts north of Gascony) are brandies made from white grapes - Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard
- but only Armagnac was permitted under French regulations to use Baco Blanc and until the late 1970s, Baco Blanc was the primary grape of Armagnac.
Following the grape's decline in the late 20th century, there was some speculation about the future of the variety, especially after a 1992 Institut National des Appellations d'Origine
(INAO) decree that all vines of Baco Blanc were to be uprooted by 2010. However, advocates for the grape variety and its historical role in Armagnac were able to persuade French authorities to continue permitting its use in the distilled wines from the Armagnac region.
grafting
after the phylloxera epidemic of the mid to late 19th century, and the American hybrid grape Noah (itself a previously crossing of an unknown Vitis labrusca species and the Vitis riparia grape Taylor. Four years earlier François Baco also use Folle Blanche and an unknown species of Vitis riparia to produce a dark skin version of Baco Blanc known as Baco Noir
.
Prior to Baco Noir's development, Folle Blanche was the primarily grape variety for the eau de vie
grape brandies produced in the Cognac
and Armagnac regions of France. But, in addition to its difficulties with the new American rootstock, the grape was highly susceptible to several grape diseases including grey rot in the Cognac region and black rot
in Armagnac. The aim of François Baco was to produce a grape that had many of the neutral flavors and characteristics which made Folle Blanche favorable for distillation
but without the susceptibility that had plagued Folle Blanche growers. While growers in the Cognac region began adopting Ugni Blanc (the same grape known in Italy as Trebbiano
), growers in the Armagnac region began to enthusiastically plant Baco's new white hybrid.
For most of the 20th century, Baco Blanc was the primary grape of the Armagnac region. Its reached it peak in the 1970s when more than 85% of all plantings in the area were Baco Blanc, accounting for more than 10,700 hectares (26,750 acres). However, as Ugni Blanc began gaining more of a foothold in other Gascon wine regions, the plantings of Baco Blanc began to gradually decline. By the end of the 20th century, Ugni Blanc had eclipsed Baco Blanc as the most widely planted grape in Armagnac.
This decline lead to some speculation about the future of the variety, especially after a 1992 (INAO) degree that all vines of Baco Blanc were to be uprooted by 2010. However, advocates for the grape variety and its historical role in Armagnac were able to persuade French authorities to continue permitting its use in the distilled wines from the Armagnac region. While far from its early to mid-20th century prominence, the variety continues to play an important role in the Armagnac region and, as of 2005, the Bureau National Interprofessionnel de L'Armagnac (BNIA) reported that the grape variety was still used in the production of nearly half of all Armagnac.
where it was particularly popular Muscadet
and Anjou wine
-Saumur
regions of the "Middle Loire". The early to the mid-20th century saw a particular "boom period" in the Loire, with its cool maritime climate in most areas, for hybrid varieties. At late as 1979, Baco Blanc along with other hybrid grapes such as Baco Noir, Chambourcin
, Plantet
and Villard noir
accounting for more than 10% of all grape plantings.
But since the mid to late 20th century, the grape variety has fallen out of favor among French wine
producers who are continuing pulling up their hybrid grapes and returning to vinifera-only plantings (which are permitted for Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
AOC wines). Even in its Armagnac stronghold, Baco Blanc vines are being uprooted and replanted with Ugni Blanc. Similarly, Baco Blanc experienced a brief period of popularity in the emerging New Zealand wine
industry during the 20th century but as that century drew to a close, New Zealand producers also turned away from the variety to concentrate on vinifera grapes such as Müller-Thurgau
, Chardonnay
and Sauvignon Blanc
. Today, what little Baco Blanc is left in New Zealand is used primarily for distillations and spirits.
. This susceptibility is enhanced due to the tendency of Baco Blanc vines to bud early and ripen late, putting at risk to rains and moisture of both early spring and early harvest time. However, while its growing season cycle doesn't bode well for wine production, its tendency to produce high acid, neutral flavor grapes with low sugars does work well for distillation.
According to wine connoisseurs and experts, like Jancis Robinson
, grape-based spirits made from Baco Blanc often are not as fine and complex as those made from Folle Blanche or Ugni Blanc. But they do have a tendency to age quickly, which creates a market for brandies meant for near-term consumption.
Folle Blanche
Folle Blanche was the traditional grape variety of the Cognac and Armagnac regions of France. It is also known as Picpoule as well as Gros Plant and Enrageat Blanc...
and the Noah grape, created in the 1898 by the grape breeder François Baco. Folle Blanche is its Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....
parent. Noah, its other parent, is itself a cross of Vitis labrusca
Vitis labrusca
Vitis labrusca is a species of grapevines belonging to the Vitis genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to the eastern United States and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba and Concord grapes, and many hybrid grape varieties such as Agawam,...
and Vitis riparia
Vitis riparia
Vitis riparia Michx, also commonly known as River Bank Grape or Frost Grape, is a native American climbing or trailing vine, widely distributed from Quebec to Texas, and Montana to New England. It is long-lived and capable of reaching into the upper canopy of the tallest trees...
.
Baco Blanc was developed to produce some of the same flavors as Folle Blanche but without the susceptibility to American grape disease and phylloxera
Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
. In the 20th century it was widely planted in the Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
region for uses in brandy
Brandy
Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...
production. Both Armagnac
Armagnac (drink)
Armagnac is a distinctive kind of brandy or eau de vie produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of Armagnac grapes, including Baco 22A, Colombard, and Ugni Blanc, using column stills rather than the pot stills used in the...
and Cognac
Cognac (drink)
Cognac , named after the town of Cognac in France, is a variety of brandy. It is produced in the wine-growing region surrounding the town from which it takes its name, in the French Departements of Charente and Charente-Maritime....
(from the Charentes and Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
districts north of Gascony) are brandies made from white grapes - Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard
Colombard
Colombard is an early fruiting white variety of wine grape, better known as French Colombard in North America. It is possibly the offspring of Gouais Blanc and Chenin Blanc....
- but only Armagnac was permitted under French regulations to use Baco Blanc and until the late 1970s, Baco Blanc was the primary grape of Armagnac.
Following the grape's decline in the late 20th century, there was some speculation about the future of the variety, especially after a 1992 Institut National des Appellations d'Origine
Institut National des Appellations d'Origine
The Institut National des Appellations d'Origine is the French organization charged with regulating French agricultural products with Protected Designations of Origin . Controlled by the French government, it forms part of the Ministry of Agriculture...
(INAO) decree that all vines of Baco Blanc were to be uprooted by 2010. However, advocates for the grape variety and its historical role in Armagnac were able to persuade French authorities to continue permitting its use in the distilled wines from the Armagnac region.
History and parentage
Baco Blanc was bred in 1898 by French grape breeder François Baco from a crossing of the Vitis vinifera Folle Blanche, which was having difficulties taking to the rootstockRootstock
A rootstock is a plant, and sometimes just the stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, used for grafting a cutting or budding from another plant. The tree part being grafted onto the rootstock is usually called the scion...
grafting
Grafting
Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two sets of vascular tissues may join together. This vascular joining is called inosculation...
after the phylloxera epidemic of the mid to late 19th century, and the American hybrid grape Noah (itself a previously crossing of an unknown Vitis labrusca species and the Vitis riparia grape Taylor. Four years earlier François Baco also use Folle Blanche and an unknown species of Vitis riparia to produce a dark skin version of Baco Blanc known as Baco Noir
Baco noir
Baco noir is a hybrid red wine grape variety produced from a cross of Vitis vinifera var. Folle Blanche, a French wine grape, and an unknown variety of Vitis riparia indigenous to North America. Baco noir produces a medium body, deeply tinted, acidic red wine which is fruit forward and often...
.
Prior to Baco Noir's development, Folle Blanche was the primarily grape variety for the eau de vie
Eau de vie
An eau de vie is a clear, colorless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation...
grape brandies produced in the Cognac
Cognac
Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...
and Armagnac regions of France. But, in addition to its difficulties with the new American rootstock, the grape was highly susceptible to several grape diseases including grey rot in the Cognac region and black rot
Black rot
Black rot is a name used for various diseases of cultivated plants caused by fungi or bacteria, producing dark brown discoloration and decay in the leaves of fruit and vegetables:...
in Armagnac. The aim of François Baco was to produce a grape that had many of the neutral flavors and characteristics which made Folle Blanche favorable for distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
but without the susceptibility that had plagued Folle Blanche growers. While growers in the Cognac region began adopting Ugni Blanc (the same grape known in Italy as Trebbiano
Trebbiano
Trebbiano is the second most widely planted grape in the world. It gives good yields, but makes undistinguished wine at best. It can be fresh and fruity, but does not keep long. Its high acidity makes it important in Cognac production...
), growers in the Armagnac region began to enthusiastically plant Baco's new white hybrid.
For most of the 20th century, Baco Blanc was the primary grape of the Armagnac region. Its reached it peak in the 1970s when more than 85% of all plantings in the area were Baco Blanc, accounting for more than 10,700 hectares (26,750 acres). However, as Ugni Blanc began gaining more of a foothold in other Gascon wine regions, the plantings of Baco Blanc began to gradually decline. By the end of the 20th century, Ugni Blanc had eclipsed Baco Blanc as the most widely planted grape in Armagnac.
This decline lead to some speculation about the future of the variety, especially after a 1992 (INAO) degree that all vines of Baco Blanc were to be uprooted by 2010. However, advocates for the grape variety and its historical role in Armagnac were able to persuade French authorities to continue permitting its use in the distilled wines from the Armagnac region. While far from its early to mid-20th century prominence, the variety continues to play an important role in the Armagnac region and, as of 2005, the Bureau National Interprofessionnel de L'Armagnac (BNIA) reported that the grape variety was still used in the production of nearly half of all Armagnac.
Wine regions
Baco Blanc is found primarily in France and was one of the "work-horse" hybrids that the country turned to following the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century. While scattered plantings could be found throughout France, most of the Baco Blanc plantings could be found on the west side of the country (in many of the areas where its parent vine, Folle Blanche is found, from the South West France wine regions of Gascony all the way to the Loire ValleyLoire Valley (wine)
The Loire Valley wine region includes the French wine regions situated along the Loire River from the Muscadet region near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast to the region of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé just southeast of the city of Orléans in north central France. In between are the regions of...
where it was particularly popular Muscadet
Muscadet
Muscadet is a white French wine. It is made at the western end of the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes in the Pays de la Loire region neighboring the Brittany Region. More Muscadet is produced than any other Loire wine. It is made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, often referred to simply as...
and Anjou wine
Anjou wine
Anjou wine is produced in the Loire Valley wine region of France near the city of Angers. The wines of region are often grouped together with the wines of nearby Saumur as "Anjou-Saumur"...
-Saumur
Saumur (wine)
Saumur is a French wine region located in the Loire Valley. The region is noted for sparkling wines produced by the traditional method, and for red wines made primarily from Cabernet Franc...
regions of the "Middle Loire". The early to the mid-20th century saw a particular "boom period" in the Loire, with its cool maritime climate in most areas, for hybrid varieties. At late as 1979, Baco Blanc along with other hybrid grapes such as Baco Noir, Chambourcin
Chambourcin
Chambourcin is a French-American interspecific hybrid grape variety used for making wine. Its parentage is uncertain. The hybrid was produced by Joannes Seyve who often used Seibel hybrids produced in the 1860s. The grape has only been available since 1963. Chambourcin has a good resistance to...
, Plantet
Plantet
Plantet is a red wine grape variety that was one of the hybrid grape created by French physician and grape breeder Albert Seibel. While the exact parentage of the grape is unknown, the most popular theories has it as a cross of two Seibel grapes, Seibel 867 x Seibel 2524 with another theory...
and Villard noir
Villard Noir
Villard grapes are French wine hybrid grape created by French horticulturalist Bertille Seyve and his father-in-law Victor Villard . They include the dark skin Villard noir and the white-wine variety Villard blanc with both being members of the Seyve-Villard grape family...
accounting for more than 10% of all grape plantings.
But since the mid to late 20th century, the grape variety has fallen out of favor among French wine
French wine
French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...
producers who are continuing pulling up their hybrid grapes and returning to vinifera-only plantings (which are permitted for Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...
AOC wines). Even in its Armagnac stronghold, Baco Blanc vines are being uprooted and replanted with Ugni Blanc. Similarly, Baco Blanc experienced a brief period of popularity in the emerging New Zealand wine
New Zealand wine
New Zealand wine is largely produced in ten major wine growing regions spanning latitudes 36° to 45° South and extending . They are, from north to south Northland, Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury/Waipara and Central...
industry during the 20th century but as that century drew to a close, New Zealand producers also turned away from the variety to concentrate on vinifera grapes such as Müller-Thurgau
Müller-Thurgau
Müller-Thurgau is a variety of white grape which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882. It is a crossing of Riesling with Madeleine Royale. It is used to make white wine in Germany, Austria, Northern Italy, Hungary, England, in Australia, Czech Republic, Slovakia,...
, Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
and Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
. Today, what little Baco Blanc is left in New Zealand is used primarily for distillations and spirits.
Viticulture and wine styles
While Baco Blanc does not share Folle Blanche's sensitivities to grey and black grape rots, it can be susceptible to powdery mildewPowdery mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of fungi in the order Erysiphales. It is one of the easier diseases to spot, as its symptoms are quite distinctive. Infected plants display white powdery spots on the...
. This susceptibility is enhanced due to the tendency of Baco Blanc vines to bud early and ripen late, putting at risk to rains and moisture of both early spring and early harvest time. However, while its growing season cycle doesn't bode well for wine production, its tendency to produce high acid, neutral flavor grapes with low sugars does work well for distillation.
According to wine connoisseurs and experts, like Jancis Robinson
Jancis Robinson
Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, MW is a British wine critic, journalist and editor of wine literature. She currently writes a weekly column for the Financial Times, and writes for her website jancisrobinson.com...
, grape-based spirits made from Baco Blanc often are not as fine and complex as those made from Folle Blanche or Ugni Blanc. But they do have a tendency to age quickly, which creates a market for brandies meant for near-term consumption.